Small-airport restaurants worth the trip (even if you're not flying)

Jeff Houck

 Tables at Earhart Runway Grill at the Lakeland Regional Airport overlook the airfield. Headphones at each table allow customers to listen to the control tower radio frequency. 
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 Jeff Houck
Customers dining at The Hangar Restaurant and Flight Lounge can watch air traffic on the runway at Albert Whitted Airport in downtown St. Petersburg.
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Jeff Houck

Customers at The Hangar Restaurant and Flight Lounge at Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg can watch airplane traffic on the busy main runway.
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 Jeff Houck
Customers at The Hangar Restaurant and Flight Lounge at Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg can watch airplane traffic on the busy main runway.
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Jeff Houck
Menu for Runway 9/27 Air Base Bistro, the restaurant at Bartow Municipal Airport
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Jeff Houck

Menu for Earhart's Runway Grill at Lakeland Regional Airport. The restaurant is named for pioneer pilot Amelia Earhart, a family friend of owner David Layman's great-grandfather.
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 Jeff Houck
The Jim Sutton Burger served at Runway 9/27 Air Base Bistro, the restaurant at Bartow Municipal Airport. The burger features two 1/3 pound Ground Beef & Ground Bacon Burgers topped cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomato and is served with fries & pickle spear for $9.50
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 Jeff Houck
Blackened salmon over a house salad was a recent lunch special at The Hangar Restaurant and Flight Lounge at Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg

By JEFF HOUCK | The Tampa Tribune
Published: February 19, 2012 

 

How far would you fly for a $100 hamburger?

Before you answer, understand that anyone who owns a small airplane knows the burger is a bit of a joke, a slang way of making an excuse to fly to another airport, log some air miles, have a bite to eat and fly home.

What they don't tell you: There are great eats to be had at small airports.

Unlike international airports, where chain food is the norm and every airside looks like a mall food court, the terminals at small airfields feature independently-run restaurants that reflect both the uniqueness of the setting and more than a little history.

Even better, you don't need a plane ticket to dine at these cozy eateries. There's no TSA pat-down to get a bite to eat. And there's virtually no chance you'll lose any baggage. Your appetite is your passport. 
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PAPPY'S GRILL
Winter Haven Municipal Airport at Gilbert Field
2703 W. Highway 92, Winter Haven
(863) 268-8240
Hours: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily

Spacious and bright with lots of windows to see planes on the Tarmac, Pappy's is like a hangar where you can park your taste buds.

The restaurant, which opened just within the last few months inside the Aspen ski lodge-looking Winter Haven Municipal Airport, offers a quirky menu with lots of belly-filling dishes.

Consider the "Bomber" breakfast: three eggs, a slab of country ham, three strips of bacon, three sausage patties, two house-made fresh biscuits and a bowl of sausage bacon gravy for $8.85. (A word of warning: You may need to be airlifted if you finish it all.)

Not enough food? Peruse the six-item "Bucket List," dishes that actually are served in buckets. We'd describe The Slop Bucket, but it would only make you hungry.

Aviation-themed food: The Crop Duster hamburger with bacon, fried jalapenos, onions and Florida BBQ Co. sauce ($5.75). And the ominously named Hindenburg 12-inch hot dog served in a hoagie roll. ($4.75)


EARHART'S RUNWAY GRILL
Lakeland Linder Regional Airport
3900 Emerson Drive, Lakeland
(863) 937-8900
Hours: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday and Tuesday; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday to Friday; 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday; 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday

www.earhartsrunwaygrill.com

Owners David and Romina Layman's restaurant, perched not far from the main runway, is themed around pioneering female aviator Amelia Earhart.

The story goes that David's great grandfather, David T., was the one who recruited Earhart for the first female transatlantic flight. The aviatrix then became a family friend. Framed handwritten notes from Earhart are displayed on restaurant walls.

History drips from the place. A marker in the parking lot tells of the deployment to the former Drane Field of the 320th Bombardment Group flying B-26 medium-range bombers during World War II. A replica World War I biplane dangles over the terminal's atrium.

And if that isn't enough for propeller geeks, each booth along the expansive window inside Earhart's has headphones for listening to the airport's control tower.

Aviation-themed food: Earhart's Chef Salad, ($10.95); Flyin' Solo Burger ($7.95); The Tower Burger ($9.95); Amelia's Chicken Sandwich ($8.95)

RUNWAY 9/27 AIR BASE BISTRO
Bartow Municipal Airport
5001 Highway 17 N., Bartow
(863)∙288-8418
Hours: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday to Wednesday; 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday to Saturday

www.runway927.net

Walking through the airport's lobby is like a stroll through an aviation history museum with sweeping murals, airplane models and a plethora of memorabilia from Bartow Municipal Airport's early days as Bartow Army Air Field. Of particular pride is that pilots Karol J. Bobko, Edward H. White and Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin all went on to become astronauts after their service there.

Runway 9/27 bistro is exactly what the name implies, a cozy eatery featuring "southern comfort food" on the edge of the main runway. It's a common occurrence to be dining as one or more small planes taxi and park next to the restaurant's windows.

For the thrill-seekers at your table, try the Ed White sandwich: Ham, turkey, Swiss and American cheeses between three pieces of bread, rolled in egg wash, dipped in crumbs and fried until golden brown, then topped with powdered sugar and served with raspberry sauce and fries ($10.50).

Aviation-themed food: The Full-Throttles Salads ($3.99 to $7.95); Flightline Favorites are specials that change daily; Piper Cubs (kids' menu dishes)

THE HANGAR RESTAURANT & FLIGHT LOUNGE
540 First St. S.E., St. Petersburg, FL 33701
(727) 823-7767

http://thehangarstpete.com/

Hours: Open Monday through Saturday 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. for breakfast; 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for lunch; 4 to 10 p.m. for dinner. Sunday breakfast service lasts until noon and closes at 8 p.m.

St. Petersburg's waterfront downtown is full of dining options. How to stand out?

Putting a restaurant at Albert Whitted Airport is one way. Building it with a birds-eye view of the runway and within walking distance of the Dali Museum is another.

Opened two years ago, The Hangar is downtown restaurateur Steve Westphal's most ambitious effort when you consider its distance away from the hungry foot traffic of Beach Drive.

But this one has what the others do not: Great views of Albert Whitted's busy air field and the U.S. Coast Guard Station's rescue helicopters. For full effect, sit on the porch during lunch. It won't take long for conversations to drown in the noise of propellers. You may even get a makeshift air show as pilots fly close to the deck at high speed.

Aviation-themed food: Luggage Belt Sandwich, applewood smoked bacon, egg, lettuce and tomato on seven grain bread ($6); "The Hangar Hamburger" with caramelized onion, bacon jam and melted brie ($10); Aviator chicken wings ($8).

http://www2.tbo.com